Australia to tighten immigration policies

Australia has announced plans to tighten immigration policies. These include barring foreign students from bringing their family members. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke cited the housing shortage as a factor behind the changes.

The new restrictions on foreign students will include some exceptions for PhD students and those from ASEAN and Pacific countries.  International students are only permitted to extend their visas when they move up to higher-level courses.

For working holiday visas, which are commonly used by backpackers, a ballot system will be introduced to cap the number of people qualified for extensions. The Australian government says the new policies can bring net overseas migration down from about 300,000 to about 225,000 by 2028.